It was the same in the past, various vagrancy laws and similar were always aimed at producing the “undesirables”, making their lives hell, their deaths miserable and then flaunting that as example to keep the working class in check.

“as if they were unwanted animals”

If you’re trained to ignore your empathy for one group (animals), you can be trained to ignore your empathy for other groups (”criminals”, “illegals”, “aliens”). Reconnect with your empathy and help others to do this too.